Saturday, 30 April 2016

An adult president is going to have to tell the American people that a mandated equality-of-result economy is fossilized, entitlements are insolvent, the debt is unsustainable, interest rates are going up, the medical system is pure chaos, and people have to get over expecting to live off government, not because it is unethical, but because it is untenable.

Thursday, 28 April 2016

One more question. If Newt thinks Trump’s message is such hot stuff, why didn’t he run the same campaign in 2012 against Romney? There’s nothing novel about what Trump’s pitching. Reform conservatives have been begging the GOP for years to forget about entrepreneurs and pay more attention to the white working class, which has been suffering economically and absorbing the attendant pathologies that come with that. There’s always been a market, comparatively narrow but deep, on the right for isolationism and protectionism. Take all of that and combine it with frustration at the Republican Party’s perceived inability and/or unwillingness, in the case of immigration, to forcefully oppose the left’s agenda and all of the key bits of Trump’s populist program could have been pushed hard four years ago. Romney was a perfect foil for it too. Gingrich had every opportunity, but he ran as a conventional Republican pol — experienced, a brilliant technocrat bursting with policy ideas, a fighter for conservative values per his leadership on the Contract With America. Newt was a conventional hawk, not the sort of America-Firster that Trump presents himself as. How is it, then, that he “gets it” while the so-called elites don’t? And how did this guy, one of the most famously intelligent Republicans in America, decide that the hallmark of a solid foreign-policy speech is, um, emphasizing American interests? Said one Twitter pal to Newt, “You were a history professor. Reflect on how you ended up here.” Trumpism corrupts. And in Newt’s case, absolute Trumpism corrupts absolutely.

Lefty broadcaster Campbell Brown reviews the Trump campaign, correctly finding it highly problematic for America and highly profitable for her industry. She concludes:

As Trump finally seemed to close in on the nomination this spring, we saw MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and conservative radio host Charlie Sykes really challenge him rather than allow themselves to be props in his act—something Fox News’ Megyn Kelly had been doing for a while, in spite of Trump’s obsessive attacks. The Washington Post editorial board and two New York Times reporters, Maggie Haberman and David Sanger, have used their time with Trump to probe his knowledge of the issues—and expose his ignorance of even basic matters.

They have shown other journalists how, if they don’t cover Trump less, they can at least cover him better. The greatest contribution TV (or any other) journalists can make going forward is to abandon the laziness that too often comes with just playing referee. Use your knowledge and experience to give context; call a misrepresentation just that; and embrace the difference between objective truth and relative truth. You know what it is. Share it. In this campaign, it has never been so important.

In other words, now that we have delivered the GOP this disaster of a nominee, let’s get Hillary! elected.

Much of the discussion – and laughs – focused on Boehner’s views on the current presidential candidates. Segueing into the topic, Kennedy asked Boehner to be frank given that the event was not being broadcasted, and the former Speaker responded in kind. When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd.

“Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

Boehner described other Republican candidates as friends. In particular, the former speaker said he has played golf with Donald Trump for years and that they were “texting buddies.”

[...]

Boehner for the most part accepted Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee, though he did express his surprise at the candidate’s success. While he did not praise Trump’s policies, the Speaker did say he would vote for Trump in the general election if he becomes the Republican nominee. The former Speaker said he would not, however, vote for Cruz.

So who’s the real “establishment” guy, Trump or Cruz? And if the former Speaker is wondering why he’s now the former Speaker, this is why.

Wednesday, 27 April 2016

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump mangled the name of the East African country of Tanzania in his foreign policy speech Wednesday.

The businessman-turned-presumptive presidential nominee pronounced the name Tan-ZAY-nia rather than the correct Tan-zuh-NIA. He also struggled to say “San Bernardino,” in reference to the Southern California city where 14 people died in a December attack, fashioning it San Bern-OR-dino.

Trump doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and has surrounded himself with people who won’t tell him.